How did you fall in love with Kingdom Hearts?

[Lea]

I was young. Probably 8 or 9. My family's extremely big Disney nerds and the idea of visiting all these Disney worlds to save the world was just so intriguing to me, so I begged my parents to get it for me and they did. Fell in love right away with the characters. I didn't beat KHI though, it was too difficult for me at the time. Atlantica's controls were too frustrating for me. I got KHII when that came out on release day (was very confused playing it since I didn't finish KHI OR play CoM), and I DID end up finishing that one. Then I picked up CoM for the Gameboy and beat that and EVENTUALLY beat KHI. It was a mess. I just last year played every game in order for the first time.

 

[Gordita]

I was first introduced to the Kingdom Hearts series during Christmas vacation when I was about six or seven. My cousins had brought along their PS2 – a system I had never played before, because my older brother was more of a hand-me-down Super Nintendo kind of gamer. My cousins and brother all gathered 'round the old spare bedroom of my grandparent's house (the only one with a TV) and were debating what to play. There were about five games in my cousin's bag, and the one with the most eye-catching cover was definitely Kingdom Hearts (I think I was probably more attracted to the heart on the cover, though).
When the gorgeous opening animation started up, I knew I would like it. I was drawn to the pretty graphics and character designs. All six of us spent a few hours taking turns playing. Although I was terrible at gaming, I really enjoyed the feeling of the game, and working with my cousins to beat it made the experience even more fun.
Since then, I've only played the Gameboy and DS Kingdom Hearts games, because I didn't have the systems the other games were released on. But that experience of playing Kingdom Hearts that Christmas stuck with me, and after all of these years, I've finally gotten a chance to play the original again in the form of Remix 1.5.

 

[roxaven]

During this time I was about 9 and I was playing FFX and when I saw the commercial I saw Sora and he reminded me of Tidus. And with the combination of the song simple and clean, it just touched my heart. I guess I was just so amazed that there was a combination of my favorite Disney movies and characters that reminded me of Final Fantasy it was just love at first sight.

It was the first game that other girls in my family approved of since they always criticized me for being a boy since I played video games, but I didn't care. Me and my uncle would always try to help each other out and see who beat the game first. Every time I played KH it just always made me feel happy and when I beat the game it was just so bittersweet, happy that I passed my first PS2 but sad that the game was over.

Although people may criticize video games and say it makes people anti social or lazy (well at least that's what some members of my family say), it actually brought me closer to family members I would try to teach them how to play videogames both guys and girls, since it wasn't a difficult to learn how to play. To this day everyone in my family know that I love KH and actually make fun of me for it, but hey they know what to get me for my birthday or x-mas as a gift!

I love KH I'll always be glad to play any of the games over and over again!

 

[Absent]

Chain of Memories for the GBA. It wasn't love at first sight but it was enough to get me hooked. Me being raised on an island, video games were my last resort to having fun, but after getting into Pokemon I wanted to expand my collection. I bought COM thinking the cover art looked interesting and decided to give it a go.

I never beat the game. However when one door closes, another opens and so I played KH1.

 

[DarkAegyptiacus]

I remember seeing adverts for the games when I was little, back when I lived in the states. They interested me at first, but as I only had a PsOne, I just had to ignore those feelings.
By the time we moved to the UK and I got a PS2 I had forgotten that the game had existed. Whenever I saw anything about it, I figured they just mad a KH1 and KH2 and was never revived after PS3 came out.
Years later, I'm looking at videos for the PS4 and KH3 appears. "Wow, they're bringing it back then." I thought maybe I should try the originals out, and then I stumbled upon 1.5 trailers - perfect!!
Although, at the time, I was more pushing myself into playing it; classic Disney characters were beginning to die for me - I loved house of mouse back in the day (still do when I watch it now), but my baby brother & sister started getting into 'Mickey Mouse' clubhouse (I would actually laugh myself to death if they did that dance after defeating Xehanort in KH3)...it just began ruining Disney for me, but comments from the fans about how amazing the story throughout the games were, drove me to get it anyway.
So, I pre-ordered 1.5 during my lunch break about two days before it came out and got the limited edition (so glad I did now as well) - whole thing came to about £25 which is still relatively cheap for a newly launched game. The game was worth SO MUCH more - I would've happily paid £60 for this!
Stuck it on at home and fell in love in less than a minute of watching the intro. I loved every bit of it (well apart from Halloween Town, but that's a more personal issue). I especially liked how the different worlds contributed to the story itself and how they all interacted with each other (which I'd like to see more of in the future).
COM wasn't quite as good in terms of the Disney theme, but I assumed it was just because they were supposed to be memories. And days was just...it was just beautiful.
I've just recently completed it and I believe I may now be obsessed with it - very eagerly awaiting 2.5; it's not coming fast enough!

 

[ok sunny]

It was when I was in first grade (2005-2006) and I saw my friend has a copy of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (KH:CoM). The main protagonist, Sora, looked familiar to me since they just started releasing KH2 adverts on TV. So my friend already had KH2 and said it was a great game. Because I asked about the story, he said that Sora had a twin brother. He said this because we wanted to "play pretend" so I was obviously the twin, since we both wanted to be Sora.

Eventually, I found out there was no twin and he apologized. But I was still in love with the game and got KH2 about a year later (with my own allowance!). My brother and I were playing that game forever until he got to lvl 99. I was surprised he made it that far, but he always tries to complete as much as he can in all of the games he plays.

Anyway, about a year after KH2 was released, my friend's older brother got KH:ReCoM for his birthday. He beat the game after about a week and lent me the game to borrow (but we still haven't returned it since he didn't care...). That's when I first realized that KH is more than a series of 3 great games, but it's got more of a backstory than one might think. So I started researching for several years and then after the release of KH:BBS, I found this website. I didn't make an account since I thought I wouldn't be here for long and was so much younger. So I did my own research and made a few theories on my own with my brother. That's how I learned to love my most favorite game series of all time!

Since I bought KH2, I had also bought every single game (except re:coded) in the series, even KH1 at some point. But due to the most recent hurricane (Sandy) on the East coast of the USA, my PS2 got ruined and I had to buy a PS3, hoping there would be some way I could play my PS2 games :s (I still have the games and they work, just not the console or Memory Cards). And after that, I'm sure some of you could guess that they announced KH:1.5 HM Remix a year later, so I pre-ordered that since it was released 5 days before my birthday. Anyway, there is more to this than just me researching and buying the games, but that's just to sum up how it came to be, that this series is the best ever.

 

[Ventus_]

My memory of it is very vague but I recall seeing a poster for it at the mall while out with my best friend and a guy friend of mine who explained the concept when I pointed out the poster. There is no certainty of my exact age, just that I was at least 14, the age at which I met the guy friend. It instantly sounded very exciting and not long after I rented the game. My best friend and I had actually begun my first file together and I remember how scary Dark Side was. We were like "What! This early in the game they're giving us this big scary boss!" hehe.
It took some time but eventually I received my own copy of the game for Christmas.

The same excitement overcame me when I heard there was a second game, and my guy friend let me borrow his copy to play it. I returned it to him once I cleared it. I remember having to finish the final stages in a hurry because he told me his family was missing it. To this day I have never owned my own copy, and it's my favorite hence my anxiousness for 2.5.

 

[kuraudoVII]

For me, it was definitely the commercials for the game that made me first notice. The idea of having an anime-esque character fighting alongside Donald and Goofy was intriguing, especially since it involved going to all of those iconic Disney worlds. The fact that it also featured several Final Fantasy characters that I sort of knew about but never had the opportunity (at the time) to play as was just icing on the cake.

I wanted the game as soon as it came out, but I was unable to get it until January 2003. I was 11 going-on-12 at the time. My brother and I were immediately hooked by the opening and innovative gameplay that sort of reminded us of Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask. It took us both a while to beat it (thanks, Hollow Bastion), but when we did, it was one of the biggest accomplishments that we felt we achieved at the time. The game singlehandedly helped us become Final Fantasy fans as well.

Chain of Memories on the Game Boy Advance presented one hell of a learning curve, but we eventually got through both scenarios and were pumped up for the next game. Around that time, we went back to I and got all of the dalmatians and were amazed at the secret ending.

Then came II. We geeked out so hard upon seeing Axel and hearing "The Thirteenth Struggle" again. Auron and Tron being party members was an added bonus. Despite this, what stood out the most was Roxas who would go on to become my favorite character in the entire franchise.

Re: Chain of Memories came out amidst everyone's doubts. Playing the game was fun and the added bonuses were a welcome addition.

Unfortunately, this is where I ended up on a hiatus in the series. My brother fell out of it thanks to the convoluted narrative (and admittedly, I can't entirely blame him) and we just didn't have the cash at hand at the time to get the DS games (although we still had DS's).

Birth by Sleep came around. My PSP was broken at the time and it wouldn't be until 2012 when I got a working model again. My brother was interested and started playing it again and enjoyed the fact that the story was simple enough and had gameplay that forced him to be strategic. When I finally got my hands on the game (this time, Final Mix), I was blown away by how awesome the game was and wanted to plow through it. The game brought so much to the table and is undoubtedly my favorite in the series.

3D came out, but at this point, I still don't have a 3DS. Nevertheless, it had a gripping story and introduced my new favorite villain in the series: Young Master Xehanort.

I.5 was announced not long after I watched the Super Gaming Brothers complete their Let's Play of Kingdom Hearts I. The instant I heard about the game and especially after hearing about the artbook, it was an instant pre-order for me (still kind of disappointed about the artbook, though.

II.5 is now on the rise and I am eager to try my hand at the Lingering Will, the Roxas boss battle, and the Absent Silhouettes.

As the years have gone by, the series has grown on me to the point that it is up there in my list of favorite video game series alongside Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Sonic, and more. These games have helped me in a lot of ways from helping me during my years of depression to connecting with others who love the series. The games hold a very special place in my heart and I can only hope that Kingdom Hearts III will be even better than what we have played thus far.

 

[WanPisu]

I don't have a detailed or exciting story, really. I visited a relative in Germany who was playing the game and I was watching him in excitement. Then I obviously got to play it too. Soon enough, I fell in love with the franchise. One of the best things I've done.

 

[Kinsei]

I was playing a demo disc at a friends house, and there was a trailer for KH1 on it, the one that plays when you leave the game on the title screen for too long. A few months later I was at a local video game rental shop and there it was, the first KH. There was only one copy left and I knew I had to have it. I fell in love as soon as I started to play it, and I've been a fan ever since. I even bought a GBA just for CoM.

 

[lilVon]

Reading the KH wiki back in high school. Yeah I was kinda late to the party.

 

[Dreaded_Desire62]

Well, I fell in love with Kingdom Hearts due to the first commercial I saw, but I didn't get into it until Days. I started playing the earlier games and I must say that's what got me hooked. The plot where Roxas had to fight his best friend, Xion and eventually leave the Organization due to finding out they were only using him was really addictive.

 

[Heartless Sora]

I fell in love with Kingdom Hearts because of my older brother. I don't know why he got it, but he bought it in 2006 when I was 6 and he never plays a video game without me because I'm his gaming buddy. I watched him play the game and I became very intrigued by it. At one point, my brother got stuck on the Riku/Ansem fight and gave up completely on the game. That is when I fell in love with it and all its aspects because I wanted to show my brother that I was better than him. I eventually completely forgot about the game and the Riku/Ansem fight. I didn't get to play the game until my brother got a PS3 and gave me his PS2 and I didn't get his copy of KH until 2011! I finally started to play the game at the end of 2012, but didn't fall in love with it until mid-2013 when I really got into the story of the game(I got to Agrabah at that point). When I got to Riku/Ansem, I remembered how I said I would beat the game and show how I was better at it than my brother. After I beat the game, I looked up KH on the internet and saw that there was more. At that point, I got fully enveloped in the KH series and fell in love with all of it.

 

[Arkxine]

Well it took a while for me to play Kingdom Hearts 1 when it came out, it must of been about 6 months after until I realised what the game was about and who was in it. As soon as I knew that some of my favourite Final Fantasy characters were in it, it drew me in and made me quite interested in it. I was only 14 - 15 back then and I didn't know much about the websites to get information from, and I only used Gametrailers at the time. Anyway as soon as I played the game about 2 or 3 hours in I was absolutely in love with it and could not stop playing. It was the most fun I had in a game in a long time and was different from any RPG that I played, and was one of the best looking games at the time. So that's my little story on how I got involved and love with Kingdom Heart.

 

[sonickenshin]

I think it was middle school. It popped up on TV one time and I thought it looked cool. An adventure game with Disney characters, I'm down with that. Then, I played it at my best friend's place, and then I went bonkers. One year after that, I got myself a PS2 and Kingdom Hearts was one of my first games and I had it ever since. Wee.

 

[Kairi916]

Well I feel in loved with KH again after I listed to Sanctuary and watched the video and after that I always wanted to cosplay and sound like Namine and Kairi I started to look up wiki about them and all the characters and learning secrets about all the players

 

[MegaxXxman]

I read a gaming magazine about it and then my friend from next door brought it over because he needed help navigating through monstro though I had no experience with the game and it was amazing and on the morning of the next christmas I found it in my stocking after my other gifts thinking I wasn't getting it!

 

[bluenerd]

When I was little, I went to blockbuster with my mom to rent movies and I asked her if I can pick out a video game for our playstation and she said yes. so I went around the game section and had the coolest games ever. there was final fantasy, jak and daxter, super mario, all of them. and the one that caught my eye was Kingdom Hearts. I thought it looked pretty cool and it had my favorite disney characters in there. so we took it home and started playing it. me and my siblings were having a blast and we all fell in love with it. the story, the characters, the worlds in there, everything. that's how I loved the Kingdom Hearts series. and started playing video games and loving them because of it.

 

[DotYook]

I've been stalking these forums lately and this thread made me decide to finally join.

I was in elementary the 1st time I heard of Kingdom Hearts but I honestly brushed it aside because it was disney and I was a cartoon network fanatic that considered nickelodeon and disney to be the rivals. Aside from the cartoon company factor, I was however already into japanese entertainment or to be more precise; rpgs and anime. I was heavily into anime starting with the discovery of dragonball z and i actually only played rpg or japan related games for the most part. So seeing this game be a disney product, it just turnt me off as a kid because i assumed it lacked the japenese/rpgish element.

After hearing about it when it first came to existence, I forgot about it for a couple of years until my bestfriend who was also muy gameboy buddy got obsessed with Chain of Memories. All of a sudden kingdom hearts was all he talked about and played during recess in elementary. I was still iffy about the quality of the game but eventually i decided to play it sometimes when my friend offered. I even remember what world it was that i first played, olympeus coliseum. I enjoyed the fighting system and the ides of a all powerful unqiue weapon. I accepted Kingdom Hearts but i wasnt hooked on it yet.

Starting my middle school era, I had finally got a ps2 even though it was already out for a couple of years already. It was my 1st non hand held console of the generation. I was excited for finally moving from 8bit sprite rpgs to 3d incredible graphics(at the time) rpgs, however I wasnt actually sure what games to get. I loved dragonball z on the gameboy because they were rpgs but on ps2 they were merely fighting games so they wouldnt satisfy me how i wanted. Thats when i turned to final fantasy and purchased X. As much as I never had a taste or the patience for turn based rpgs, ffx was truely one of the best rpgs ive played and the start to my true love for rpgs and all sorts of fantasies.

Anyways, yeah after ffx i became a big fan of final fantasy and when i started researching more of it...yup! I came to discover final fantasy is also apart of kingdom hearts as well as made by the same company. Thus, i purchased Kingdom Hearts 2 & that secured it. I loved everything about it, even though i didnt understand everything about kh up to the release of II. All i wished for was a lil bit more seriousness and deepening of plot. When the kh2fm bbs trailer was discovered, i lost my marbels man. The mystery behind it all and the trio of new games to follow(I didnt care too much for days or coded though but still it was cool.)

lastly, with bbs and the relevant plot points and information from days and coded I was definitely loving kingdom hearts. DDD kinda turnt me off with the time travel mishaps but after researching it and finally grasping it I think its neat too. KH3 will almost surely satisfy me no matter which route tetsuya takes with it.

Kingdom Hearts isnt perfect and has its flaws but i like those too. The convolution and vagueness around so much is really just fascinating and the drama about so much like TAV, KH itself, Soras connections, the worlds/realms, the future of the series, etc. Its all enticing.

Lastly, Xehanort is definitely one of the most badass antagonist ever. Even farther, even though ethnicity isnt really defined in this case, Xehanort and Lordgenome(from Gurren Lagann) are the most bad ass black antagonists ever.

 

[Icy_Nightmare]

My father bought the first game. After he had played it (with my help), I played it on my own and gradually fell in love with. Till this day, it is my favorite game and will always keep me happy when i need it